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Healthy babies

11 June 1994

Adults who survive childhood leukaemia after radiation ther-apy do not have an increased risk of having children with severe birth defects, say the American researchers who presented their findings to a conference on genetics held in Paris last week.

The study was carried out at five US institutes, including the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington DC. The researchers found that 3.6 per cent of children born to 593 leukaemia survivors had severe congenital defects, compared to 3.5 per cent in a control group, a difference which is not statistically significant.

However, those who were treated with chemotherapy were three times more likely to have offspring with congenital disorders. The researchers conclude that a ‘possible association’ exists between birth defects and treatment with chemotherapy but that more studies are needed.